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NEWTON CLAIMS LONE FEATURE ON OPENING NIGHT

BATAVIA, NY (May 9, 2026) (Brooke Johnpier) — On Saturday night, The Dirt Track at Genesee kicked off its 43rd season, with a good turnout of fans and racers alike.

Determined to defy the forecasted weather odds, 2026’s first races started at 6 p.m, right after opening ceremonies.

Following the Super 6 Program format, six classes of cars came out for their Heat races, with the top three of each race heading to the re-draw.

The Blue Diamond Racing Products Novice Sportsmen came out first, with Lucas Newton leading the six-car field to green. Coming hot off a win at Ransomville Speedway on Friday night, Newton was all juiced up. It showed. He shot out to the lead before the pack got to Turn 1, and never looked back.

Mini Stocks, presented by Weis Performance, were up next. 13 cars checking in meant two Heats, and both of them held excitement. Eric Brumstead earned the lead early coming out of Turns 1 and 2, and held it for about a lap before his right rear tire blew. Brumstead didn’t let that stop him, though. He kept racing on it until he faded to 4th. Then he went pit-side.

The race ended with Mike Becker coming home in first, with Wesley Hughes right behind him.

The second Heat saw Bradly Weis snag the lead early, with Cole Susice right on his rear tires. Susice was just looking for any reason to sneak by Weis to steal the win, and he found it when Weis hesitated coming out of Turn 4. In that split second, Susice snuck by him on the bottom, taking the lead without a backward glance.

Twelve cars checked in for the Conte’s Auto Street Stock division, splitting their Heats into two as well. Damian Long held the lead briefly before Trent Chamberlain and Rich Conte passed him on the bottom. Before long, Chamberlain and Conte were side-by-side for the lead going down the back stretch before shooting into Turn 3, where Conte reigned victorious.

But Byron DeWitt was slowly making his way up from the back-end of the pack. Chamberlain lost second to DeWitt on Lap 4 in the first corner, and stole first from Conte in the second. DeWitt successfully held the lead after moving up five spots to do so.

The second group of Street Stocks was led to Turn 1 by Dale Rissinger, but John Zimmerman and Zachary Walsh were right there. Zimmerman and Walsh flew down the back chute side-by-side with their eyes on Rissinger. Before they could make a move on him though, he spun out.

On the restart, Walsh took the lead with Zimmerman slowly fading back. Rissinger did the opposite of Zimmerman however. He made his way back to the front, getting on the top side of Walsh before getting a little bit squirrelly. He only lost one position though, coming in third. Walsh retained the lead.

Next up were the Kolb Family Automotive Sportsman Modifieds. Dave Conant started outside pole for the first Heat, and finished on said pole. The same exact thing happened in the second race, but that time it was Ray Bliss.

With only five cars coming out for the Bandits, the Heat race for them was singular. Victor Baxter took the lead coming out of the first corner, and held it until a caution was thrown for Dodge Smith and Auryona Almekinder who got tangled up together coming off of Turn 4. Karson Harvey took the lead the second time around and held it for a little while before Baxter slid by him to reclaim the lead for the final lap.

Finally, the RUSH Late Models came out for their Heats. The first race saw Bill Taylor snag an early lead, but Demetrios Drellos was right there. Coming off of Turn 4 on Lap 3, Drellos went to the bottom. It worked. Drellos got first as they raced past the flag stand to start Lap 4. He saw clean air for the duration of the race.

Bill Holmes started first and ended first for his Heat, with his fellow competitors trying to catch him to no avail.

After some quick track prep work, the feature races got underway. With the threat of rain looming ominously in the distance in the form of a massive black storm cloud, there wasn’t much time to mess around.

And that is exactly what happened. It took less than five minutes for the track prep to be done, and then the Novice Sportsmen were coming on the track for their 12-lap feature.

Newton started second, but that would be extremely short-lived as he took the lead before coming out of Turn 2. However, Robert Henning was right behind him. The first caution of the race came out when Michael Williams went over the side of the second corner. Somehow, his tires got stuck on the equipment stationed down there, causing a little bit of a dilemma with the track safety crew. But before long, he was righted again, and caught up to the tail-end of the field to take the green.

Newton held the lead once again until Williams lost it in the second corner again, spinning in the middle of Turns 3 and 4 this time.

The green flag flew once again, with Newton still riding the coattails of Friday night’s win at Ransomville. And he did the same thing a few laps later.

After leading all 12 laps, Oakfield, NY’s very own took the win for the second time in a weekend, and the first time in 2026 at The Dirt Track at Genesee.

The next feature up was Mini Stock, but unfortunately Mother Nature only allowed them to make some parade laps before being sent to the pits due to rain.

The weather didn’t let up, forcing a cancellation. Because one feature was run though, the night is considered complete.

The Dirt Track at Genesee is currently working with surrounding tracks, drivers, and racing individuals to come up with the best rain date to run the double-features for the remaining five divisions.

Join The Dirt Track at Genesee next week on Saturday, May 16, for another Super 6 show. Pit gates open at 4 p.m, followed by the grandstands at 5, with racing getting underway at 6.

Photo Credit: Woah Nellie Productions

RACE RESULTS:

RUSH Late Model - 13 entries
Heat 1: 1. 111-Demetrios Drellos[4]; 2. 1-Bill Taylor[1]; 3. 01-Doug Ricotta[6]; 4. 39J-Jimmy Johnson[5]; 5. 012-Dave DuBois[7]; 6. 97-Allan Hammond[3]; 7. 28-Tommy Kemp[2]

Heat 2: 1. 8-Bill Holmes[1]; 2. 36-Ian Travis[2]; 3. 99-Brett Marlatt[5]; 4. 21B-Billy DuBois[6]; 5. 32M-Marshall O'Brian[3]; 6. 85-Jon Rivers[4]

Sportsman Modified - 10 entries
Heat 1: 1. 44-Dave Conant[2]; 2. 00-Sam Hoxie[5]; 3. 41-Tony Pangrazio[3]; 4. 10-Jacob Gurecki[1]; 5. (DNS) 19W-Jordan Moden

Heat 2: 1. 27Z-Ray Bliss[2]; 2. 27-John Venuto[1]; 3. 11N-Ricky Newton[4]; 4. 12V-Phil Vigneri III[3]; 5. 76M-Andrew Joy[5]

Street Stocks - 12 entries
Heat 1: 1. 34-Byron DeWitt[6]; 2. 717-Rich Conte[5]; 3. 28-Trent Chamberlain[3]; 4. 00-Damian Long[1]; 5. 22M-Mike McCarthy[2]; 6. 78-Carl Shetler[4]

Heat 2: 1. Z15-Zachary Walsh[4]; 2. 0-John Zimmerman[3]; 3. 2-Dale Rissinger[1]; 4. 82-Kenny Begnouche[6]; 5. 15-Bobby Lippa Jr[5]; 6. (DNS) 58-Carl Shetler Sr

Mini Stocks - 13 entries
Heat 1: 1. 7-Mike Becker[5]; 2. 6-Wesley Hughes[7]; 3. 004-Olivia Coniber[6]; 4. 72-Zachery Virgilio[1]; 5. 22K-Jeremy Kramer[3]; 6. 11-Eric Brumstead[4]; 7. 02-Kevin Napier[2]

Heat 2: 1. 9-Cole Susice[5]; 2. 10JR-Paige Gayton[3]; 3. 17-Racelyn Lippa[4]; 4. 717-Rocco Conte[6]; 5. 8X-Chris McGuire[2]; 6. (DNS) XXX-Bradly Weis

Novice Sportsman - 7 entries
A Feature 1: 1. 54N-Lucas Newton[2]; 2. 50-Matt Radzio[3]; 3. 1H-Steve Gould[5]; 4. 18-Josh McManus[7]; 5. 518-Michael Williams[4]; 6. 3-Paul Marshall[6]; 7. 19W-Robert Henning[1]

Heat 1: 1. 54N-Lucas Newton[1]; 2. 19W-Robert Henning[2]; 3. 50-Matt Radzio[3]; 4. 518-Michael Williams[4]; 5. 1H-Steve Gould[5]; 6. 18-Josh McManus[7]; 7. (DNS) 3-Paul Marshall

Bandits - 5 entries
Heat 1: 1. 20V-Victor Baxter[2]; 2. 27-Karson Harvey[3]; 3. 5C-Chase Powers[5]; 4. 96X-Dodge Smith[4]; 5. 22-Auryona Almekinder[1]

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